Belle of the Ball
by Ocean Queen Gina
Summary: She was a complete stranger and just when he thought he could never love again, she walked in on his life...
1. Chapter 1

**Leçon 1**

The night was dark and filled with snow. The heavy flakes came down like a thick blanket blinding the road. Lisette ran as fast and as hard as she could, in her hands she clutched her beloved pair of Pointe Ballet Shoes. Her skin was numb from the cold wind and she had not coat or sweater protecting her from the harsh conditions.

As she pushed forward through the night she came upon the famous theater, l'Opéra Populaire. Filled with hoe of shelter she pushed harder and ran up the large stone steps leading up to the large entrance. She knocked hard and loud but no one answered, she then remembered that the theater had closed five months ago due to 'strange happenings'.

Lisette sank down to the cold stone and huddled close to her knees and wept. She was freezing and without a home. Right then and there she wished the cold would overcome her and take her away from her hell. Slowly sleep took her mind over and she slept through the cold, snowy night.

When Lisette woke she was warm and she wondered if she was in heaven. She sat up, slowly for she felt dizzy. She looked around at her surroundings and noticed she was in a room that looked much like a cave. Beneath her were velvet and silk sheets. The bed she was in was carved to look like a bird and around her was a curtain of black lace. Next to her was a stand holding a music box, topped with a monkey playing the symbols. She smiled as she watched it play.

"I see you are up," a strange voice said. Suddenly a man started walking into the room.

Lisette's eyes grew wide as she caught view of the stranger. He wore a black cape and on his face, well a white mask covered the right side of it. She immediately felt very intimidated, but not afraid.

"There is no need to be afraid, I found you on the front steps and I couldn't let you freeze." He said.

Lisette furrowed her forehead and then asked, "Does that mean we are in the opera house?"

The man nodded and caste his eyes to the floor. She knew who he was. "Regrettably so, beneath the opera house technically.

Lisette's eyes grew wide and she whispered, "You are le phantom, the one everyone talks about!"

He nodded and looked very sad.

Lisette looked around and the expression on her face seemed scared. She asked frantically, "Where are my ballet slippers?"

"No need to worry, they are drying with the rest of your things. Everything you wore was soaked from the melted snow." As he said this he pulled a long tassel and the lace curtain pulled up.

Lisette looked confused and then she looked down. She was wearing a simple white nightgown but she noticed she was wearing her undergarments and she calmed down knowing she did not reveal anything. Lisette then looked up and saw deep into his eyes. They held compassion but yet, distance, much like a doctor.

"Mademoiselle, if you would excuse me I need to take your temperature." He said holding up his hand to her forehead.

She shivered as she felt his ice cold hand against her skin.

"Excusez-moi, but what is your name Monsieur, I mean other than le Phantom?" Lisette asked as he was still checking her temperature.

He took his hand off her forehead and eyed her suspiciously. She felt naked as he peered at her, as if he could see right into her.

"Erik," he said slowly, still eyeing her. "And what do they call you?" He asked back.

"Lisette," she said simply, looking down at her hands. She felt strange in his presence.

"Well, Lisette your temperature is not too high but I fear you must stay within these walls." He said it as if he regretted it had to happen but Lisette quickly dismissed it from her mind.

"Thank you Erik, for your kindness towards me." Lisette said modestly and thankfully.

"You are quite welcomed, but I think you should rest." Erik said, motherly.

Lisette nodded and lay back down in the bed and watched him walk away. His swagger was defined and cultured, like an aristocrat. But Lisette was mystified, why anyone would live beneath an abandoned opera house. She knew he was le Phantom but there was no need for a phantom when the opera house had closed down. Slowly, she went to sleep with a heavy mind.

Erik sat at his desk, his mind also heavy. He had showed kindness to a stranger, something so not like him. The more and more he thought of Lisette he remembered Christine. A little more than five months ago she had taken his heart and snapped it in two. As he thought of Christine his anger boiled up inside of him and he crumpled the sheet of paper that lay in front of him.

He got up quickly from his desk and quickly, but quietly walked over to the room Lisette lay sleeping in. She was beautiful, with creamy white skin, large dark eyes and wavy auburn hair. He did not dare go closer to her, for he feared of waking her up. But as he looked at her the anger inside of him disappeared and he smiled. She looked completely innocent as she slept.

All his life he wished for beauty, he was unlucky but yet he grew hopeful. Could perhaps Lisette love him? No, this was crazy, he quickly shook the thoughts out of his head and reminded himself that she had only met him minutes before and that no one would love a monster.

Erik's head was filled with so many things, much like Lisette's. He knew he should have never brought Lisette within the opera house walls, she would see too much and then he would be forced to keep her there. He did not want anyone else coming around and if he let her go she would surely tell someone about him, the freak.

But then he wanted to trust her. So many emotions came over him, driving him mad. He had no idea what to do with her. He knew within hours her fever would burn hotter than a thousand suns and he could not throw her out on the streets but would it be safe to keep her there, with him? Erik longed to know the answer but quickly remembered something that someone had told him long ago, follow your heart. And Erik's heart told him to keep Lisette there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Leçon 2**

While Lisette slept she dreamt of Erik. All that she saw was his face, the mysterious white masked and all around him was fog, and that was it. It was the only thing she saw until Erik lightly shook her shoulder, waking her from her slumber.

"Lisette, I am very sorry but I have brought you some tea and bread. You need to eat something and I must check your temperature again." Erik whispered.

Lisette sat up, rubbing her eyes ferociously and slowly nodding, taking in everything Erik had said, slowly.

Erik handed her the cup of tea which was steaming and a warm piece of baguette. She sipped slowly for the tea was very hot and she feared burning her tongue.

"Why were you on the steps of the opera house?" Erik asked pulling up a chair to sit on, next to the bed.

Lisette paused and spoke sadly. "It is a very long story, it begins when I was eight and my father had died from fever in the winter. He left my mother and I with a pile of debts and my mother could not keep the farm so she sold it to pay off the debts and she had no other choice than to take us to the casino."

Erik nodded in understanding, the casino contained whores and drunken men gambling and so Lisette continued.

"She tried so hard to make enough money for us to get out but no matter what she could hardly come up with anything. That's when she met Gaston Veneer. He was wealthy but very temperamental. He'd come to my mother every night and they'd do their business but then he'd grow angry and he'd hit her. By the time I turned 14 he'd hit her so many times that she was bruised badly and one day she went out and bought a pair of ballet slippers and handed me a wad of cash and told me to leave, to make something of myself. It was only a year and a half ago and I haven't seen her since." Lisette's eyes grew moist and she quickly wiped away the tear that had formed in the corner of her eye and she spoke again, "Ever since I've tried to find a place to stay but I haven't had much luck. I want to make something of myself, like what my mother told me to but I don't think an opera house would hire me, I've had no real training in the art of ballet."

Erik nodded, taking in all the information she had given. It had amazed him that she trusted him with her story. Erik would have never done that; someone could always use it against him so he tried very hard to never let anyone in.

"Please tell me Erik, why do you live beneath l'Opéra Populaire?" Lisette asked taking a fuller sip of tea.

Lisette had caught Erik off guard, he did not expect her to ask that question but he should have. He wondered if he should trust her with his secret. She had trusted him so easily and why could he not do the same for her? After many moments of thinking he settles on it, he would tell her. After all it was only fair.

"I've lived within these walls since I was a young boy. Bound and chained by my mask." It was the first time he had mentioned his mask and the look on his face said he did not mean to mention it but he continued with his story. "When the others left the opera house I did not go, no one wants me in their streets, and they don't want me among them."

Lisette looked at him, her eyes full of sadness and compassion. Erik had seen or had been treated so cruelly that he no longer trusted the world, or anyone for that matter. Lisette longed to help him, to show him that not everyone was the same but she had no idea how. What was there to say, to do for that matter? Her words were lost and she sat still.

"Will you not say anything?" Erik asked with longing in his voice.

Lisette tried gathering herself and she slowly recovered. She barely could whisper, "Not everyone is the same Erik."

In his head he contemplated her words. She knew nothing of his suffering. She was not born with a face of a monster; she was not tormented and called, "the Devil's Child". But perhaps she was somewhat right. All his life he had known the same type of people but he shook that thought out of his head. The world held no compassion for him, despite what she had said.

Lisette began t shiver and a feeling of coldness spread over her body like a blanket. Through her chattering she managed to say, "Oh Erik I feel so cold…"

Right then Erik began to panic and he touched her forehead, it was burning! He had no idea what to do but then remembered, "You must sweat out the fever." And so he scavenged his lair for any blankets and piled them on top of her. She was fast asleep by now and tiny droplets of sweat formed at her brow. Erik sighed in relief and blew out a few candles to dim the room, perfect for sleeping.

Through the night Lisette's words rung through his head like church bells. Perhaps he was right, maybe she could love him. Was love at first sight even possible? He usually never believed that love existed, at least not for him. But Lisette had shown such compassion for him with her words and her eyes showed the deepest of feeling. He didn't want to believe that Lisette could hold such compassion for him, let alone someday love. But in her eyes he saw the true compassion lay in them and he could not, no matter how much he wanted to, deny her kind words.


	3. Chapter 3

**Leçon 3**

Erik could not compose a single word while Lisette lay in her feverish sleep. His hair was tosseled, his shirt wrinkled and his eyes red and swollen. How could he write a decent song when a feverish girl was in his bed? He worried for her, more than he had worried about anyone in his lifetime.

With no clue what to do with himself he walked over to the pile of Lisette's things. He had folded them neatly when he had changed Lisette into a clean, dry nightgown but he kept her virtue and left her undergarments on, he knew that a lady must reveal nothing. He held up her dress, it was completely ruined. The seam at the sleeve had ripped and the hem was torn. Not to mention the various patches that covered the pathetic dress.

Erik quickly decided that this dress would not do for Lisette. He would surprise her with a new one. So he quickly whisked away down his secret passageway (the shorter one from taking the boat) and he made his way up to the opera room. Backstage was left entirely intact. No one had taken anything that did not personally belong to them and the managers did not take the time to see to it that everything was auctioned or taken.

Erik threw open the costume closets' doors and began rummaging through the old dresses. There were so many to choose from and all would look perfect on Lisette but he wanted to find the perfect one, the dress that would make Lisette feel as beautiful as a queen. After quite some time he found a brick red colored gown with capped sleeves adorned with black beading. Erik remembered the last time it was worn, when Carlotta played Carmen. He shuddered as he remembered Carlotta's strained voice.

Now that he had found the dress that suited Lisette he went back to his lair and the long awaited return of Lisette. Erik wanted to compose badly but when he put the quill to his hand he froze. He was absolutely stuck but his fingers burned, urging him to write. Erik was frustrated, more so then he had ever been before.

Erik had never felt so strongly about someone in his life, even Christine. Sure, he was infatuated with her but at times he could not stand her, the way she take off his mask. Lisette never did such a thing and he prayed she would never do so.

Erik got up and made his way to where Lisette lay sleeping. HE stood over her, gazing. She was under so many heavy blankets that when she went to wriggle it barely came out as a flinch. She made small noises; somewhat showing pain, which made his heart break. How could he feel so much compassion, so much hurt for someone he just met? This was not like him. He was known as the heartless killer and at times he was.

He contemplated everything in his mind, trying to find a stitch of reality of why he felt this way about her but he could find nothing. He quickly lost hope of finding his answer and so he pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat, holding Lisette's tiny hand, which felt like fire. And so all through the night (or day?) he sat there, patiently waiting for his beloved to wake from her feverish sleep.


End file.
